Live music thumping on the streets, gorgeous old architecture, cobblestone streets and lots of interesting people. What’s not to love about New Orleans? I spent a long weekend there for a blogging conference. I met some wonderful people, left with many pearls or wisdom and a large to do list and had a bunch of fun too. I thought that hurricane Isaac would be hitting my house in Florida when I got home. Luckily all we’ve seen is a bunch of rain and now the sun peeking out. Just hoping for my New Orleans friends that they escape the worst. Sometimes we need a little reminder of how lucky we are to have each day, and that our true needs are few.

A rainbow lunch is what I decided on for Miss G’s school lunch today. A rainbow after the storm. We have a new LunchBots Quad stainless container for the new school year. At the top left are flower sandwiches on Rudi’s Whole Grain bread, top right are mini carrots underneath sugar snap peas and yellow bell pepper strips. At the bottom right underneath are lots of pineapple pieces, and papaya and strawberry flowers on top. And at the bottom left are picks of blueberries and blackberries.

For her snack today she had Sabra hummus with Sesmark brand Ancient Grain crackers made of amaranth, millet, sorghum and quinoa. She also has sugar snap peas and pistachios mixed with dried cranberries packed in her sistema brand bento. Not shown is her Kleen Kanteen water bottle.

And I sent my husband off to work with some leftovers (not shown) and a mixed green salad with sugar snap peas and mini carrots. At the top left are organic blueberries and at top right are organic plums and nectarines packed in his Easy LunchBox container.

Miss A had to skip camp today due to a runny nose so I sent Miss G to school with her small square bento. From the top left she has organic nectarine sections, star shaped sandwiches on Rudi’s Whole Grain bread with almond butter & jam and organic red seedless grapes with a star baran (food separator/decoration) on top.

My husband had another baby green salad with baby bok choi and spinach. I found a black radish at our local Whole Foods which I’d never seen before. It’s larger than the traditional red radishes and a charcoal colored black on the outside, but it tastes very similar to the red radishes and is completely white in the middle. The black radish slices are in the middle, next are small slices of a baby zucchini, and I also julienned a larger carrot I had left in the fridge for the outer edge of the salad. Not shown is his favorite ginger dressing. At the top left are mixed nuts and goji berries and in the flower at the top right are strawberry pieces packed in his Easy Lunch Box container.

It’s still rainbow week. I’m working with what I’ve got in the fridge instead of picking up a bunch of vegetables & fruits this week that we can’t finish. So for the sake of practicality, I am using what I’ve got with some fun colored plastic cups my friend sent me for the girls. They’re actually shot glasses. You know the party life of parents with a 2 & 4 year old! Whoot! Early to bed, early to rise for us here.

Miss G wanted her Unicorn. I decided not to doll it up with a bunch of sugar today to keep it healthy. Under the unicorn are spinach leaves. Above the unicorn from left to right are strawberries, honeydew and pummelo, which is a ginormous grapefruit looking fruit. It was larger than Miss G’s head, about 9″ across. I like them because they aren’t quite as juicy so they pack well, and they’re not as tart either so the kids eat them up. At the top left are mango chunks and at the top right is cannellini bean bruschetta leftover from dinner. It has cannellini beans rinsed & drained, 5 leaves of fresh basil, an orange tomato, sea salt, pepper and red wine vinegar in it. Yum!

Miss A has an umbrella with tiny vegan cheese umbrellas on top today. Starting at the top left corner near the umbrella are honeydew pieces, top right are cannellini beans, bottom right are red carrot slices and at the bottom left are pummelo pieces. At the top left of her lunchbox is a mandarin orange peeled with a yellow drink umbrella hat, and in the red heart are 2 sliced strawberries. Both girls’ lunches are packed in their Easy Lunch Boxes today.

I know it’s not here yet, but we have to give you time to buy groceries and plan! My bento buddies and I are doing a St. Patrick’s Day blog hop today. Little A found this Irish troll in Goodwill yesterday, and I decided he was a good mascot for today’s blog hop. When you get to the bottom, please click on the link to check out the next fun lunch.

We’re on spring break this week and eating at home. Miss G is having green tinted hummus with carrot shamrocks on top. To go with the hummus are homemade clover shaped pita chips. She has an apple slice with a clover cut out of the middle. At the bottom right are kiwi slices and bottom left are dried apricots and green grapes.

Miss A has a shamrock shaped sandwich on whole grain bread on spinach leaves. At the top are clover shaped honeydew melon, the green shamrock container has edamame and fresh snap peas and a clover shaped dried apricot is below that. At the bottom left is a clover shaped cucumber and above that is an apple hat with fruit leather buckle.

And NOW please click on the link to go check out what’s awesome today in What’s In John’s Lunch Bag for more St. Patrick’s Day fun!